Awana keen to make Ranji season count

“I used the off season to work hard on my fitness and am feeling very confident."

New Delhi: A string of poor performances by the pacers had earned Parvinder Awana a call-up to the Indian Test team for the fourth Test against England in Nagpur in 2012. While he didn’t get to play, he made his international debut in the T20 series in January.

Poor performances in the two matches — not known to be a accurate pointer to a bowler’s quality — meant that Awana found himself out of the squad. Since then, India’s ‘A’ team has played six tournaments, and sadly, Awana’s name has not featured in any of them.

But the Delhi paceman has not lost faith and is working harder to impress the national selectors in hope that they will give him another opportunity to showcase his skills. By getting regular wickets on the placid pitch at the Feroze Shah Kotla, Awana has brought smiles to the faces of his Delhi skippers and hopes to do the same this year too.Parwinder Awana: Out to make his intent clear.

“Playing for your country is the ultimate aim of every cricketer. But I don’t want to think too much about selection. My job is to perform and with the present crop of selectors showing faith in youngsters, I am sure I will get my chance if I keep picking wickets. I just want one go in a Test match,” Awana told MAIL TODAY on Monday.

“You can’t always show your skills in a T20 game as it favours the batsmen and I feel that is what went wrong for me when I made my debut. I did try my best, but I had just four overs. But I am learning and I am trying to rectify the mistakes I made,” he said.

His performance against Mumbai in last week’s Ranji Trophy encounter bears testimony to the hard work he has put in — he picked a five-for in the first innings — but Awana wants to be more consistent.

“I have had a good start to the season and even my body is in good shape. But I want to keep at it and fill my bag with wickets at the end of the season. It was obviously very pleasing to pick a five-for against a strong team like Mumbai. They are the most dominant force at the domestic level and one feels good when one does well against them,” the 27-year-old bowler said.

When asked if he was disappointed at not being part of any of the ‘A’ squads in the recent past, Awana said: “I can’t complain because there are other players too who have been performing over a long period of time. I feel I just need to focus on my game and do what I do best — pick wickets.”

Every cricketer works on his game during the off-season and Awana is no different. Not only did he work on his bowling, but has also made sure that injuries did not hamper his chance to reclaim his place in the Indian squad.

“I used the off season to work hard on my fitness and am feeling very confident. I am at the peak of my conditioning right now. I have been bowling at good pace and the ball is coming out well,” he signed off.